Blizzard shuts down western Newfoundland, parts of Labrador
Thousands of people in Newfoundland and Labrador were dealingwith another winter storm Monday, with roads on the island'swest coast and in southern Labrador deemed too unsafe to drive.
Large swaths of the region were affected, withclosures and weather delays affecting numerous public services.
Motorists were being advised to stay off some affected roadways, including lengthy stretches of the Trans-Canada Highway.
The storm, which caused havoc through much of the Maritime provinces on Sunday, included high winds and heavy drifting.
Air Labrador tweeted that "flights in our network are on weather-hold at this hour," and "little change is expected today."
Some areas of western Newfoundland gotas much as 15 centimetres of snow overnight on Sunday, adding to what has already been an intense few weeks of snowfall in the area.
Schools in Corner Brook were closed Monday morning, with an update scheduled for 11 a.m., and provincial government offices are also closed for the morning, except for those advised to report to work.
'A busy night for our crews'
Corner Brook Mayor Charles Pendertweeted just before 8 a.m. that the main roads in the city are open, but side roads are not in very good shape.
"It's been a busy night for our crews," he wrote on Twitter.
It was also being reported on social media that two abandoned vehicles were posing a hazard to traffic on the highway entering Stephenville, near the entrance to the former site of the paper mill.
High winds battered the west coast and Northern Peninsula throughout the night, with gusts of over 160 kilometres/per hour recorded in parts ofGros MorneNational Park. The strongest winds lasted from about 10:30 p.m. until about 3 a.m., according to CBC meteorologist Ryan Snoddon.
The winds knocked out power in several communities in the Gros Morne area, however crews were able to get it restored in most areas by Monday morning.
Southern areas of Newfoundlandalso saw strongwinds mixed with heavyrain overnight, with power outages reported in some areas of theBurinPeninsula early Monday morning.
The Avalon Peninsula and eastern areas of Newfoundland sawstrong winds and rain overnight, and most flights out of St. John's International Airport were cancelled as of Monday morning, in part because of weather conditions in other parts of the country.
People in western Newfoundland will once again be digging out, following heavy snow which added to already towering snowbanks. CBC's Brian McHugh tweeted a picture of snow covered roads in Corner Brook following Sunday's storm.
Blizzard warnings were still in effect for parts of the Northern Peninsula Monday morning, with parts of the south coast under storm surge and wind warnings, including theBurin Peninsula. Extreme cold warnings are in effect for parts of Labrador.
Roads
Driving conditions were poor in many areas of the provinceMonday morning, with the Department of Transportation and Works advising people to stay off roads in parts of western Newfoundland, including the Northern Peninsula, near StephenvilleandDeer Lake.
In eastern Newfoundland, rains led to heavy water build up overnight, creating fair driving conditions in some areas including Whitbourne, St. John's, and Conception Bay South.
In Labrador, the highway from the Quebec border to Red Bay and on to Lodge Bay was considered too stormy for crews to operate on Monday.
_(720p).jpg)
 OFFICIAL HD MUSIC VIDEO.jpg)
.jpg)
